Undisputed

by A. S. Teague

  Reluctantly, I let Sidney’s hand go and turn towards him. “Matthew Sheldon and Sandy Smith are two of my buddies. I gave them a call and asked them if I could bring you down to take a look around and catch a game. They said sure, and here we are.” I point toward the entrance. “Look. Here comes Sandy now.”

  Connor’s mouth opens, but nothing comes out. Sidney giggles, and I can’t stop a chuckle from escaping my mouth. I may not have known him long, but in that short period, he was never speechless before. Now, he is like a deer in headlights.

  “Kid? You okay?” I ask.

  He mumbles something in response, so I get out of the car and make my way around to say hello to Sandy.

  “Hey, man. Thanks for doing this,” I say, sticking a hand in his direction.

  He grasps it and gives me a quick shake. “Yeah, dude. Any time. So, what’s the deal with this kid? How do you know him again?” He stops his questions when Sidney’s movements catch his attention to say, “Yo. Is that his mom?”

  Jealousy washes over me. At least, I assume that’s what it is. I painfully clench my teeth together and fight the sudden desire to punch him in the mouth. I take a deep breath to calm myself before attempting to answer him.

  “No, that’s his aunt.” My gaze cuts to where she’s standing, and I see that she’s still talking to Connor. “And don’t even think about it. She’s off-limits to you.”

  He barks a laugh and eyes me in utter disbelief. “You’re shitting me, right?”

  I take a challenging step toward him. “Not in the least.”

  His eyes narrow as he glances back at Sidney, but he wisely changes the subject. “So, the kid?”

  “Connor. He’s the kid I met through Make-A-Wish about a month or so ago. He has kidney failure and they haven’t been able to find a donor for him. After that meeting, though, we’ve kept in touch. He’s a cool kid, doesn’t act sick, and doesn’t complain about it.” I’m still staring at Sidney, trying to figure out my reaction to Sandy’s question. Not taking my gaze off her, I continue. “Seeing you guys play was on his bucket list, and I thought, why not make it one step better and let him meet some of the guys and take a tour before the game?” I finally turn back to him and see that he’s staring at Sidney too. I can understand why he can’t take his eyes off her.

  She must have taken extra time to get ready this morning, because her normally messy hair hangs perfectly straight down her back and her eyes are shining under smoky eye makeup. Dressed in form-fitting jeans and a cute top that is just low enough to tease me with her cleavage, she finished off the outfit with simple but sexy pumps. I’m still admiring her when she glances up and smiles at me, nervously licking her lips.

  Seeing her tongue dart out of her mouth causes my balls to tighten.

  Sandy nudges me with his elbow. “Dude, the aunt is seriously smoking-ass hot. Are you hitting that?” he asks, probably just to poke the beast again.

  A snarl escapes my lips, and before I even realize it, I’m barking. “No, I’m not hitting it. And neither the fuck are you, all right?”

  Throwing his arms up in surrender, he says, “Hey, hey, hey, man. Dude, lighten up.” Still shaking his head, “Let’s get this tour started.”

  While Sandy ambles over to Connor to introduce himself, I stand back, trying to get my shit together. Did I really just snarl at someone over a woman? A woman I haven’t even slept with yet? Am I actually jealous that Sandy was checking her out?

  What has been going on with me lately?

  And why can’t I get her out of my head?

  After Sandy introduces himself to Connor and Sidney, he takes us into the locker room, where most of the guys on the team are busy getting ready. Sidney opts to wait outside, and while Sandy tries to convince her that she is welcome to come in with us, I am secretly relieved she politely declined. I am having a hard enough time dealing with Sandy’s comments from earlier, afraid of what I might do if I catch any of the other guys ogling her. I am a beast, but taking on an entire professional football team might have been a stretch even for me. Besides, this is Connor’s day, and I don’t want to ruin it by going caveman on a room full of meatheads.

  I was expecting Sandy and Matt to do right by the kid, but they have gone beyond anything I could have dreamed up. Connor is given his own honorary locker, which is packed with a helmet, a jersey, shoes, and everything else a guy would need to play in the NFL. The way his face lights up when he sees his name printed on the back of the jersey is more gratifying than I’ve felt in a long time—maybe ever.

  After Connor has suited up, he is taken out onto the field with the guys to catch a few passes with the starting quarterback. Once he has gotten over being star struck, he proves to be a pretty decent little player. It isn’t fair that he won’t have the chance to catch passes as a professional one day.

  Sidney is beaming with pride, thinking the same thing I am. The sadness in her eyes squeezes at my heart. I pull her close to my side, hoping she wouldn’t pull away. Instead, she surprises me by looping her arm around my waist and nestling her head against my chest.

  Afraid of ruining the moment, I clamp my lips together and continue watching Connor smile and laugh with the guys.

  Four hours later, we have finished with the tour, the meet-and-greet, the shopping spree in the gift shop, and lunch, and we’re now settling into our seats to finally watch the game. Connor hasn’t stopped smiling since we arrived, and his enthusiasm is contagious. Sidney has laughed more in the last few hours than I’ve ever seen, and I can’t help but smile and laugh right along with them.

  “Brec! This day has been epic! Epic,” he exaggerates. “Aunt Sid, did you take pictures? I’m going to need video evidence that I not only spent the day with Breccan again, but I did it while meeting the entire team. Did you get pictures of me playing catch with Dusty Wellington? Can you believe I played catch with the quarterback for the Falcons!”

  Even though we have been going nonstop, Connor’s enthusiasm couldn’t be matched.

  “Yeah, honey. I got pictures of everything. Your mom sent me a text requesting pictures of the day. She also asked me to find her a boyfriend, but I’m not too sure I was successful on that end.” Sidney rolls her eyes.

  “If Abby wants me to set her up, I know plenty of guys who would take her out,” I tell Sidney.

  Connor perks up at the suggestion. “Yeah! You should do it! I can interview the guys first and decide who would be the best.”

  Sidney’s face freezes in mock horror, and damn if I don’t think it’s cute when she responds with, “Uh, I don’t think that is such a good idea. I’m pretty sure your mom doesn’t want to date a guy who plays Xbox and watches sports all the time.”

  Slapping my hand over my heart, I feign hurt. “Hey! What’s wrong with a guy who plays Xbox all day?”

  She smirks. “I mean, nothing, but I prefer a guy who actually has a life. Maybe someone with some real hobbies. You know, like javelin throwing?”

  I laugh loudly. “I don’t even know what the hell a javelin is.”

  She looks away from me and mutters, “Of course you don’t.”

  I have no idea what her response means. It was probably an insult, but after the day we’ve had, I couldn’t give two shits. She likes me. If she needs to hide it, I’ll give her that play. But that’s all I’m giving her, because I have plans to moving things forward full throttle.

  Still laughing, I lean forward and touch my lips to hers. She stills then surprises me once again, this time by parting her lips in invitation.

  I quickly accept.

  Bringing my hands up to either side of her head, I deepen the kiss by slanting my head to the side. She slides her petite hand up my chest before settling it at the base of my throat. Taking it as all the encouragement I need, I open my mouth and glide my tongue between her lips. Her lips are soft. The hand at my throat tightens, and her other hand grips the hem of my shirt. She pulls my body close, and my nose fills with the slightly floral scent o
f her hair. Her tongue rolls with mine, challenging me stroke for stroke, trying to assert its dominance over me. It’s the very first fight I am okay with losing.

  Connor whispers, “Holy shit,” which causes Sidney to suddenly jerk away.

  Leaning back, I search Sidney’s face to get a read on what she’s feeling. I’m desperate for more, and that revelation catches me off guard. I’ve kissed a lot of women, but not once like that. And never have I longed to do it again without my goal being to wind up between her legs at the end of the night.

  Sidney’s cheeks flush, which causes me to chuckle. She clears her throat and turns her attention to the pregame show that started while we were preoccupied. Narrowing my eyes at her, I decide to give her some space until I can get her alone. The way she took control of this kiss told me that she more than liked it, so I’m feeling pretty confident that she’d like it again. God knows I would. I’m still imagining kissing her again when she laces her fingers between mine, a small smile playing on her lips.

  Forget about a small smile. A huge-ass grin threatens to break my face.

  Settling back in the stadium seat, I turn my attention to the field. This may have been one of Connor’s wishes, but I’m the real MVP of the game.

  “How do you know her again?” I ask, turning away from the gorgeous woman talking to Connor and raising my eyebrow at Breccan.

  Pressing his lips together, he looks away from me for a brief moment before answering. “Uh, she’s just an old friend. I saw that she was in town doing a shoot, so I gave her a call.”

  He’s not telling me the whole truth, but I decide I would rather not know anyway. Especially after the taste of the jealousy that washed over me as I watched swimsuit model Haley Nicole kiss Breccan’s cheeks in greeting a few minutes ago.

  But there is no reason for my jealousy.

  Yeah, Breccan kissed me last week. And, yeah, I liked—no, loved—it. And, yeah, I’ve been eager for more and disappointed when the more I’ve wanted never happened. But one toe-curling kiss doesn’t make him mine.

  I’m not sure what I expected from Breccan after he’d dropped us off after the game. But, whatever it was, it was more than what I got.

  For three days, it was radio silence on his end. I was like a teenage girl waiting on her crush to call. Every time my phone rang or pinged with a text, my heart would leap into my throat, only to be disappointed when it wasn’t him.

  When I finally did hear from him, it was a text asking if Connor had any plans for this weekend. When I responded that he didn’t, he then wanted to know what Abby was doing. It was only after informing him that Abby was once again away on assignment—which happened to be a sore subject at the time—that he asked about my plans. I was tempted to tell him that I was busy for the next…say, eon, but I instead typed out a long message listing all the reasons why I was annoyed with him.

  None of those reasons included my hurt feelings over his lack of interest. No, they were ridiculous reasons, like showing up unannounced weeks ago and crap of the like. When I realized I was bordering on nutcase territory, I quickly erased it before simply responding that I wasn’t doing anything.

  Turns out that he was ready to help Connor cross another item off the list and had made a few arrangements. He refused to tell us what the plans were, only insisting that it was going to be more exciting than skydiving and the football game combined.

  I’m just thankful I took the time to actually fix my hair and put makeup on.

  Because here we are, in the middle of a photo shoot with one of the most beautiful women in America, while Connor alternates between hyperventilating and drooling.

  Breccan was right. This is more exciting than the last two things we crossed off the list—for Connor.

  For me, it was just awkward and, honestly, boring.

  I’m zoned out, mentally going over all the things I could be doing at this moment instead of watching Connor’s wet dream come to life, when Breccan, using his thumb and forefinger, turns my head towards him.

  “Hey. What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

  Not wanting to tell him that I’ve been obsessing over him in bed with what’s her face, I pull my head out of his hand and ask, “Why didn’t you call me?” It came out barely more than a whisper, and I mentally kick myself for sounding so whiney. The last thing I want is to sound like one of his pathetic groupies.

  Did fighters have groupies?

  His strong brow wrinkles in confusion. “What are you talking about? I did call you. Well, I mean, I texted. Same thing.”

  I glance up to check on Connor and see that he’s laughing with Haley about something. Smiling at his joy, I try to shake off my insecurities. “Never mind. I just expected to hear from you after, you know…” After you kissed me. “Yeah, you texted, but it was about Connor. Which, on a side note, thanks for not telling me what we were doing,” I say sarcastically. “I’m glad I took the effort to put on makeup and do something with this.” I shake my wavy locks around.

  He tugs at the ends of my hair. “Come on. This kind of beauty just comes naturally. Who are you tryin’ to kid?”

  I glare, pursing my lips, and then retort, “Oh, please. You know you say that to all the girls.”

  His grin fades, and he stares deep into my eyes. “Yeah, actually, I do. But I’ve never meant it before you.”

  Holy shit.

  Clearing my throat, I shake myself out of his spell. “So, again, you didn’t call because?”

  His gaze darts around, landing anywhere but on me. “Uh…Mark’s kept me in the gym all fucking day, every day this week.” His gaze finally meets mine, and he rubs his palms on his thighs. “My next title fight isn’t for a couple of months, but he’s old-school and insists I train year round.” Turning the tables on me, he asks pointedly, “Why didn’t you call me?”

  Shit!

  Why didn’t I call him?

  “Well…” I nervously glance away. “Abby had to leave again, so I was pretty busy with Connor.” It’s only a half lie.

  With Abby on assignment—again—I was busy. But there’s no way I’m going to admit to him that I was anxious at the thought of being the first to reach out. I also refuse to tell him that I picked up the phone to call him a dozen times but talked myself out of hitting send each time.

  Besides, he’s the guy. Isn’t he supposed to do the chasing?

  “See?” he says, kicking his feet out in front of him, crossing them at the ankle. “You can’t blame me for being too busy when you were busy too. So, what’s the deal with Abby anyway? Why is it that everything with Connor falls on you?”

  I’m relieved at the change of subject. Although I’m not sure that this subject is any easier to talk about.

  Grimacing, I tell him, “It’s nothing exciting, really. You sure you want to know?”

  When he nods, I continue.

  “Abby’s always been, well, Abby. I mean, she’s a bit of a gypsy. Our mom used to say she was like a bird, always in the wind. Anyway, for as long as I can remember, I’ve always been taking care of things for her. In school, I did her projects. In college, I stayed up with her, cramming for tests she had forgotten about. Then she ran off on vacation and came back pregnant. No guy to help her. And then our parents died, leaving just me and our brother. Jeremy’s in the military and off on his own adventures. Pretty much, that only left me.” I half shrug. “We were on our own, ya know? How could I tell her no when she came to me, begging for my help?”

  “But what about your life?”

  I chuckle. “I didn’t have a life. I mean, I did have this amazing condo. God, it was a fucking steal. It was on Lake Murphy. Have you ever been there?”

  He shakes his head.

  “Really? God, I loved having picnics there. It didn’t matter if it was springtime or winter—it was so beautiful and peaceful. I would sit on the bank and write.”

  His eyebrows pop in surprise. “You write?”

  “A little. Just short stories.
I’m definitely not the next JK Rowling. I just like to people-watch and then make up stories about their lives.” My face flushes.

  Abby’s the only person who knows about my hobby. I don’t have any clue why I’m spilling my guts to him, but the way he’s intently watching me spurs me to keep talking.

  “Anyway, the condo was on the lake, and it flooded. The owners couldn’t afford the repairs. It went into foreclosure. The insurance money from our parents’ accident was enough to buy it outright and pay for the repairs. So I threw myself into the project. It was so much fun being able to make every decision and knowing I was in control of every little detail.” I realize I’m rambling, so I pause and laugh without humor. “You don’t care about that!”

  He smiles that genuine, slow grin of his, and my heart stops.

  “Of course I care. Sounds like you loved it. So, why don’t you live there now?”

  Once my heart starts beating again, I shake my head. “Well, when Abby started traveling all the time, I had to stay with Connor. He was only seven then. It was easier for me to come to her place than to bring him to me. Eventually, I realized I was spending more time there than at my house. It just made more sense to sell it.”

  The memory of signing those papers flashes in my mind, and I have to blink several times to keep from crying. It was the day I gave my life up. I don’t regret it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still sting from time to time.

  With a shaky voice, I continue. “In the end, it worked out, and I know that. But I was so resentful towards Abby those days. It took a lot of time to come to peace with the decision. Because, you know, it was my decision. I could have told her no. I didn’t have to become Connor’s keeper. But I wanted to. So there was no reason to be angry at my sister.” I’m not sure who I am trying to convince: him or me.